Panel closer to mission

Casino board to get new member and name, soon.

Casino board to get new member and name, soon.

January 21, 2009|By CAROL DRAEGER Tribune Staff Writer

NEW BUFFALO -- The community board charged with disbursing funds from Four Winds Casino inched closer on Tuesday to its mission. But the four-member board still has a long way to go before communities near the New Buffalo Township casino will see funds that are more than a year overdue. The local revenue sharing board still must pick a fifth member, which it plans to do Feb. 10. It must give itself a name, which members debated briefly during the meeting. It must create bylaws and a funding formula by which to dole out the estimated $6 million Four Winds owes Berrien County and nearby communities. And at least eight communities and school districts from Grand Beach to Chikaming Township must sign off on an intergovernmental agreement. The pact means the groups agree to form a local revenue sharing board in conjunction with the casino's owner, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, to disburse funds. The annual payments are based on 2 percent of net revenues the casino has generated from slot machines since its August 2007 opening. Each governmental entity must approve the agreement. There are 11: Berrien County, New Buffalo Township, the city of New Buffalo, Chikaming Township, Three Oaks Township, the village of Three Oaks, the village of Grand Beach, the village of Michiana, New Buffalo School District, Lake Michigan College, and Berrien Regional Education Service Agency. Most plan to provide their local boards with a final version of the agreement within the next two weeks. Excluding the county and New Buffalo city and township, eight area communities must also choose among themselves the fifth member to represent their interests on the LRSB. Berrien County already has a representative on the board, commissioner Andy Vavra. New Buffalo Township's representative is trustee Peter Rahm. Rusty Geisler represents the city of New Buffalo. Vice chairman of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Matt Wesaw, is also on the board. The tribe won a seat on the LRSB as part of an amended compact it signed with the state of Michigan in July 2008. Prior to the amended state compact, the tribe had been in dispute with the state over added competition and with Berrien County over how the LRSB was originally formed. The tribe put its first payment to local communities into an escrow account until the feud was settled. It is still untouched. On Tuesday the members agreed they must come up with a name to call themselves, other than the local revenue sharing board, or the Berrien County LRSB, which had been the previous name before it was disbanded. Some board members, including Wesaw, said it would be a respectable nod to the tribe to include the band of Indians in the name. But they didn't want to confuse the state-mandated LRSB with the Pokagon Fund, a tribe-based program that doles out casino revenues beyond what the state requires. New names under consideration include Harbor Country LRSB. Staff writer Carol Draeger: cdraeger@sbtinfo.com (574) 807-2941